COEUR d’ALENE — It takes the work of many people for Kootenai County’s criminal justice system to work. 

Charter Academy eighth graders got to meet some of the key players Friday at the juvenile justice center in downtown Coeur d’Alene, including judges, prosecutors, public defenders and court staff, as well as probation and parole officers. 

The event was part of Law Day, which commemorates the rule of law each May 1. 

Public defender Jonathan Meier described for the students his role as an advocate for his indigent clients. 

“The reason I do what I do is because I love to protect people,” he said. “I get to do that every day in these courtrooms.” 

Meier’s duty is to hold the state to its burden of proof and defend his clients’ rights. 

“They need somebody who is going to passionately defend them,” he said. 

In addition to his adult clients, Meier also represents juveniles. He said his youngest client was 11 years old, even younger than the students he addressed Friday. 

When it comes to juvenile clients who have committed crimes, Meier said he aims to help put those clients on a better path. 

“We want you guys to get the help you need so you don’t keep making those mistakes,” he told the students. 

The same is often true for adult defendants, said prosecuting attorney Melody McCombs. In her role, she represents the state of Idaho, which she said puts her in a unique and powerful position. 

“I believe that each individual case needs to be looked at just that way — individually,” she said. 

McCombs said the criminal justice system “operates on a much higher level of success” if prosecutors and defense attorneys work together to resolve cases in ways that help to rehabilitate defendants. 

“That should be the goal, initially,” she said. “A lot of people look at prosecutors as people who are trying to put people in jail. Sometimes that’s the solution. But I wanted to become a prosecutor to have a different approach.” 

As a probation and parole officer, Haley Rose plays an important role in the rehabilitation of people who have committed felony offenses in Kootenai County. She’s also the probation officer for the county’s mental health court, a voluntary post-conviction program for offenders who live with persistent mental illness. 

“That’s my favorite group to work with,” Rose said. “Maybe they need help repairing their relationships with their family or finding stable housing or finding a job to pay their bills. It’s hard for someone not to break the law if they don’t know where they’re going to sleep at night.” 

Rose works alongside Huckleberry, a support dog who helps probationers and mental health court participants to feel comfortable and confident during hearings and meetings that can be stressful. Huckleberry did the same during Friday’s event, quietly roaming the courtroom to visit with students. 

Rose said she wants to see the people she works with succeed, even when they make mistakes along the way. 

“If they are trying, I’m going to try just as hard,” she said. “Just because they made a mistake in their past doesn’t mean that I’m going to lock them up and throw away the key. I’d be a pretty bad probation officer if that was my goal.”

    Huckleberry, a support dog for Kootenai County's Mental Health Court program, visits with students in a courtroom.
  

    First District Judge Tristan Poorman addresses Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy students Friday in the juvenile justice building.